Surname
by iHEARThyuuga
Summary: Tenten thought shed seen the end of fear when her abusive father died, but now her mums lost her job and things don't look good. What will she do when her mum starts hitting her. And why can't Neji keep his nose out?nejiten ratedT for language and violenc
1. Chapter 1

**Ok so this is another multichapter nejiten fic, but it has a lot more structure to it than till death do us part and is a lot more angsty. hope you enjoy it! please let me know what you think.**

**disclaimer: I don't even own the laptop I'm typing on.**

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Surname:chapter 1

Surname:the name used to identify the members of a family, I don't have a surname. People assume this means I don't have a family. I can see it in their faces, the pity, sometimes being a little too lenient or a little too generous.

People are wrong, I do have a family, I Just don't want to carry the name of a man I am ashamed to call my father. My father died when I was about five. When people hear this they instantly think he was a great shinobi and died on a mission. They're wrong. My father was an alcoholic, abused my mother and me, and then eventually froze to death when he passed out on the side of the street late one night.

To say I was pleased would be wrong, I wasn't pleased, to be honest I even regretted everything bad I had ever thought against him, I thought it was my fault. I grew out of those thoughts a long time ago.  
I know I come across as cold now, but I'm not.

In fact most of my friends, my teammates would call me an overly friendly and determined person. A testement to my acting.  
Shortly after my father died, things had improved for my mother and I, we had a new life, there was no-one to spend my mums wages on alcohol and in brothels. And most of all there was no-one to intimidate us or to abuse us.

My mother used to wait at the school gate and we'd walk home together and sometimes stop at the local store for sweets and icecream. We lived like that for about three years, but with our luck, mum lost her job and then couldn't find another, and when she did they were always temporary bar jobs which she would lose again and again and again.

She started working multiple jobs to afford our rent and my schooling. The long hours took their toll on her, and she usually has a bad temper. Things went from bad to worse for me and mum and we had to move out of our home to a small apartment further away from school, mum had to sell her car and couldn't pick me up from school anymore.

I used to walk three miles home every day even in the rain and snow. People started to talk but me and mum kept our heads high and carried on.

When I was fifteen I got a job working at the local bar as a waitress. It was the type of bar where nobody ever ate anything other than pork scratchings and the only customers I served were at least 40 and always perverted. I could easily imaginemy father amongst them and often wondered if he had ever drank here. The manager was an overweight man of about 60 and always wore a sweatstained vest with holes in it and a pair of threadbare corduroys. He valued his customers more than his waiting staff and I knew if any of the low lifes tried anything I'd get no support from him.

Although our life was hard and my mother and I argued often one thing she never did was hit me. Don't get me wrong she had gotten pretty close but she always caught herself in time. That was until last night.

I was late from work, I knew she would be annoyed, she usually was. But tonight I wasn't anticipating mum losing her job. I got home and closed the door behind me as quietly as I could, the lights were off and I assumed she had already gone to bed, I hung my coat on the peg on the back of the door and walked over to the kitchenette in the corner of the room. As I slid past the small table to reach the cupboard for a glass I tripped over something. Looking behind me I saw a figure leaning on the fridge.

"Your late." She snapped, lighting a cigarette.

"Yes, I'm sorry, I..Mr. Ikasu..." I started

"Don't give me that _shit_!" she hissed taking a step towards me.

"It's not shit mum, I had to work late, I'm getting paid." I took a step back and tried to keep my voice low.

"Yeah? well I say it's shit. You know what I think?"

I shook my head, stepping back again. She reached out and grabbed my wrist gripping hard, I could feel her alcohol soaked breath on my face as she gritted her teeth, trying to remain calm.

"I think you've been out with them friends of yours, I think you've been spending _my_ hard earned cash on one bloody night out. _That's_ why we struggle. You're just like your father." She spat the last word out like poison.

I wrenched my wrist from her grasp and straightened up trying to match her for height.

"I have _not_ been out, I have been working. And I am _nothing_ like him"

"WHERE'S THE BLOODY MONEY THEN?!" She almost screamed at me, and then she did something neither of us thought she would ever do.

She slapped me, hard, across the cheek.I clapped my hand to my face, eyes wide with shock. My mother stood, mouth open with her hand frozen in the air above my head. Her cigarette fell onto the floor and I made for my bedroom.

"Ten...Tenten I'm... I'm sorry" she stammered a tear fell down her face.

"Save it." I slammed the screen door shut, separating us.

I woke up the next morning to a black eye and five neat finger shaped bruises on my arm. I winced as I touched them tentatively. It was a stifling day and the only top I owned that covered my forearms was a black crotcheted cardigan. I pulled it on, feeling my back prickle with sweat already.

I then turned my attention to my eye, I rubbed on concealer and foundation trying to hide the black/blue, then grabbed a pair of sunglasses as I left the apartment, jamming them over my eyes. It would have to do.  
As I rounded the school gates my poorly masked eye did not seem to cause too much surprise and went reasonably unnoticed Unlike my cardigan.

"Oy! Tenten!" Sakura ran towards me in a yellow vest and red skirt.

"Hi" I forced a smile.

"What the hell is that?" she said, fingering the fabric of my cardigan and pulling a face.

"I...I don't want to get a tan, so..." She raised her eyebrows in understanding.

"Ohhh... pale and interesting, so retro, but you know you could have just worn suncream right?" she was frowning at me now.

"Yeah except I don't have any do I"

"Not to worry, I have a sample in my purse, spf 60, I think it's for skiiers or really pale people or maybe people who just don't go out much. whatever, here." She opened her purse and produced a sachet. Then began rolling up the sleeves of my cardigan.

"Hey! Sakura... wait, what are you doing, I don't want sunblock, wait." I was too late and Sakura had already finished rubbing cream into my left arm and was rolling up the sleeve on my right.

"Geez Tenten, what the hell is this?" She pulled my arm towards her and turned it over, examining the bruises.

"Tenten, Who did this to you?" she was holding my hand with hers now and looking at me with pitying eyes. I hated her then.

"No-one" I pushed my sleeve back down and pulled my hand from Sakuras, picked up my bag and began to walk in the opposite direction.

"Wait, Tenten! wait. what do you mean no-one"

"No-one. I fell"

"You fell." I realised she wasn't going to drop this.

"Yeah, It was really embarassing actually and I want to forget about it, I slipped at work last night in front of all the sleezes I swear from the laughs they saw my underwear. God."

Sakura pulled a face.

"Perverts" She cracked her knuckles, and prepared herself for a speech.

"Wait. Isn't that Sasuke I can see over there?" I pointed vaguely towards the school gates.

"What?! Where?" she sprinted in the direction I had pointed. I walked into class and pushed my bag under the desk, sitting next to my classmate.

"Interesting clothing choice." He raised and eyebrow and smirked at me.

"Drop it Hyuuga, Sakura's already covered that one."

I pulled out a notepad and My pen and began to scribble down the date and title already written on the board. Neji flicked his long hair over his shoulder before following suit. After about five minutes of silence he clearly couldn't resist one last quip.

"Too bright for you?" he hadn't looked up from his writing.

"What?" I sat up.

"These." He tapped the frame of my glasses. I winced as they pushed on my eye.

"I just like them. ok"

"Whatever."He shrugged and turned back to his work.

As the day progressed I got more and more questions reguarding my glasses. The cardigan not so much, but then Sakura had made an announcement in the hallway about my 'accident' last night.

I had avoided Neji for the whole day, dodging him in class, eating lunch in the library. When the final bell rang, however, he found me by my locker and leant against the adjacent one.

"What?" I took out my work uniform and held it to my chest.

"You've been avoiding me." He folded his arms.

"I haven't." I tried to walk aroud him, but he put out a hand stopping me.

"You ate lunch in the library, you never eat lunch in the library. And another thing, really, what's with the glasses"

"I told you I..I think they're cool." I cringed at the obvious lie.

"Yeah." He raised an eyebrow and reached out pulling them off my face.

"Hey!" I snatched, a little too late.

I couldn't meet his eyes but I knew he'd be wearing the same expression he wore when he first found out about the bar I work in.

"what's this?" he nodded at my eye.

"I... fell." I gabbled before slamming my locker door shut, grabbing my glasses off of him and hurrying down the corridor. I could feel his eyes boring through the back of my head.

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**Thanks for reading, and sorry about the previous paragraph problems, thanks to the reviewers who pointed this out. Again please give me your opinions I'm really interested to know what you think.**

**love from**

**iHEARThyuuga**

**xxx**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again. If you're new welcome to my fic, I hope you're enjoying it so far. If not, I'm dead pleased you've bothered to come back so yeah. Please enjoy reading this!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

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Chapter 2

I threw open the door as I finally reached home, Mum was out and I was thankful. I pulled the cardigan off and threw it into the corner of the room and sat in front of the fridge. My mobile rang in my back pocket but I ignored it, scared it would be Neji or Sakura, ringing to check on me.

A half empty bottle of whiskey on the table caught my eye and I stood up, fists clenched. This was just like last time. I picked up the bottle and eptied the whole lot down the sink, before stashing the evidence under the bed in my room.  
The front door closed and I leapt out from my bed, desperate to appear innocent.

"Ten? Tenten?" Mum closed the door behind her tentatively. "Tenten, about last night. I'm sorry. Really sorry." She stumbled towards me. "I... I love...you, yeah?" She dropped her bag and bent down to pick it up, giggling.

"Mum..." I stood in the doorway, unsure of what she was doing. "Mum, wait." I bent down to help her, as I picked up the bag, a small neat bottle fell out, with 'pure russian vodka' emblazoned on the label. I froze, and lifted it from the floor.  
She didn't appear to notice. "Mum you're drunk"

"What?" she stood up slowly, and too the vodka from me again. "Don't talk nonsence, it's just a little celebration, I've got an interview." She smiled at me.

"What? _really?_ That's great Mum"

"Isn't it?! You and me, we're going to be fine."

The next day, I waited for Mum to leave, then I took off my school clothes and went back to bed. I couldn't face Neji after yesterday.  
I was woken up by a slam of the front door. I jumped out of bed and pulled on some clothes, I could hear Mum bumping into things in the kitchen. I slid open my door and stepped into the kitchen, hoping she would forget I was supposed to be at school.

"Shitting bottle won't bloody open" she muttered to herself.

"H..how'd it go?" I asked tentatively, waiting for her to explode.

"'How'd it go? how'd it go?!' she bloody asks. I'll tell you how it fucking went! I didn't get the job because I was late, late because of you!" Her eyes were bulging and she spat the last word out, I looked at the floor, hoping she would calm down.  
"Why aren't you in school anyway?" she squinted at me as though she couldn't see me.

"I... errr.. lunch break." I gabbled hoping the excuse would be passable.

"Don't lie! I thought I brought you up better! And _you_ lie to _my_ face! A barefaced lie! What else are you lying about eh?!" My eyes flashed back up to meet hers. I reached out to grab onto the edge of the table.

"I _wasn't _lying Mum, really I wasn't!"

"DON'T ANSWER ME BACK!!" She threw the bottle with the last syllable and it caught me in the temple.

I staggered as I heard it smash but then righted myself. Mum was leaning against the fridge, hands over her eyes, crying. She slid down the fridge and I stumbled forward to help her.

The room swam before me and a stinging throb rang through my head. i leaned on Mum's shoulder for a moment before helping her into a chair at the table.

"I'm sorry." she wept out. "I'm sorry for being a bad mother, I'm sorry for being unable to provide for you. I'm sorry for being like him." she slumped over on the table. "I didn't mean it Tenten, I love you. More...more than anything. I...I'm sorry." I left her, unable to listen. I cleaned up the broken bottle and mopped the spilt vodka. When I looked over, she was still crying.

"It'll be ok, Mum. See?" I held up the dustpan and brush to show that I'd cleaned up. She smiled at me through her fingers. I opened the cupboard and found three more bottles of vodka in there.

"Pour me a glass won't you love?" She looking at me keenly now.

I hesitated but did not want to have another row, so I reached for a glass. I put the glass and the bottle on the table and put my hand to my forhead, which was hurting quite badly. The tingling feeling on the side of my face had been a trail of blood that I had discovered when I pulled my hand away, wet.

I'm not a squeamish person, but the sight of the blood made my stomach churn and I had to make a run for the bathroom.  
I'm not sure if my mother heard me being sick but she certainly didn't take any notice.  
The room spun as I leaned on the sink looking at my grey reflection. My face seemed to be grotesquely misshapen and the whole reflection became grainy and out of focus, I could hear the blood rushing in my ears and I leant further over the sink, being sick again, and again.

I don't remember anything after that until the next morning, when I awoke at the foor of the toilet, eith one cheek pressed against the sink pedistall and a hand still gripping the rim.

I pulled myself up and studied my face in the mirror. There was an angry swelling on the side of my head, and blood caked around it, trailing down my cheek. I desperately scrubed at the blood, hoping to remove any trace. When I looked up again, the blood gone, had left a purple bruise neatly in the shape of the base of the bottle.

I pulled down my fringe, flatening the hair in an attempt to cover the bruise. Mum knocked on the door, calling my name.

"Tenten you've been in there ages." I smoothed down my skirt and opened the door slowly.

"I think I'm going to stay home today." I whispered, looking at my feet.

"Oh no. Don't you try and pull that one on me." She put er hands on her hips. "In fact, I'm going to walk you today, just like old times. Yeah?" she smiled at me.

Maybe this was it, maybe she had realised what she was doing and wasn't going to do it anymore. I sighed and smiled back, before stepping around her into the kitchen.

"Wait, Tenten. I just have to brush my teeth then we'll go, kay?"

We stood infront of the school gates, Mum gripped one of my hands, with the other, I smoothed my fringe over the bruise, with a clumsily placed plaster over the top.

"Bye Mum." I whispered before stepping into the playground.

"Oh hell! What is that!" a boy gave a low whistle, I didn't know him but I felt a sweat break on my brow and a cold clammy feeling. "Hey? you ok?" he was frowning at me.

"I..I have to..." I couldn't finish my sentence as I rn towards the front doors and into the girls toilets. My diaphram heaved, but nothing came out of my mouth.

I sank onto the dirty floor and cried. The bell eventually went and I heard some of the cubicle doors opening and closing before it was silent. I decided to wait for a few more minutes before I could leave. But I was stopped by avoice.

"You planning on hiding in here all day?" a pair of black loafers came into view. I remained silent.

"Tenten?" Neji repeated, his voice tilting at the end of my name, in question. He knocked on the cubicle door.

"Tenten." I held my breath. "Tenten. I will knock down the door if you don't come out now"

I reluctantly slid the lock and pulled the door open. Neji observed me with his cold eyes until they reached my forhead. They widened momentarily.

"Your head?"

"I...I... fell." I looked at the floor.

"Don't insult me, that excuse was questionable the other day, but now? Just don't Tenten. I thought you valued me more than that. Who did this to you?"

"I...I can't tell you. Neji I'm sorry."

"Hn" he folded is arms. I felt the ground move underneath me and the familiar rushing in my ears.

"Tenten!" Neji called my name sharply and steadied my shoulder with a hand. "Come on. I'm taking you home." He took my hand and pulled me out of the toilets.

**I hope you found this one easier to read than the last one. I have to say I didn't exactly _enjoy _writing this but I'm reasonably pleased with it! I hope youliked reading it. Please review I really like to know what you have to say it's really helpful. thanks again. **

**iHEARThyuuga  
xXx**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again, sorry it took so long to update guys. I've been busy revising for my A levels. Anyway, enough with the eexcuses right? On with the next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

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As we left the playground I can remember feeling oddly 'floaty' I know that floaty doesn't sound like the word to use but I really was feeling that way. My head was throbbing slowly and I felt like I was on the verge of falling asleep.

I could see Nejis back in front of me, he still wore the school uniform of a black blazer, white shirt and black trousers, despite the fact that we were in sixth form. His black hair hung lazily over the blazer and blew back slightly with each stride.

By this time I couldn't focus on where we were. Sure I'd been to his house loads before, but somehow, I just couldn't stop thinking about what was going to happen to me and mum now that the Hyuuga had found out.

The more I thought about it the harder it got to walk. The throbbing in my head got stronger and stronger, until I could no longer put one foot in front of the other, so I stopped.

I sat on a low wall we had been walking next to. I saw Neji stop a few metres ahead and turn back to see what I was doing.

That's all I remember.

I opened my eyes to the feel of polyester on my cheek my hair covering my face. Except it wasn't my hair, it was Nejis.

"Neji?" I croaked into his ear.

Neji, who was carrying me piggyback-style tilted his head in acknowledgement.

"Wh..what happened?"

"You passed out."

"Oh..err..sorry." I was quite embarassed to say the least.  
"Hn" he stopped in front of his front door and let me down, steadying my shoulder with one hand and opening the door with his other hand.

The door swung open and Neji pushed me in before him, pointing to the stairs.

"Go up to my room, I'll be with you in a bit." I nodded and stepped towards the staircase.

With one hand on the banister and one hand on the wall opposite, I slowly pulled myself up the stairs, which seemed to go on forever. When I finally reached Neji's room, I only had to wait for a few minutes before he came back.

"Go and sit in the bathroom, the light's better in there." Neji motioned towards the door, and I pushed it open.

It was startlingly white, and had I not known where I was I would have thought it was one of the bathrooms used in show-rooms, as there was no evidence of use, not even a stray toothbrush. I turned to look out the window for a moment and then sat on the toilet.

"Tie your hair back." Neji handed me an elastic band. I complied.

He knelt on the floor next to me and using one hand to hold my forehead and the other to hold the plaster he peeled it away. I winced as it tugged on the cut from the bottle.

"Did you even clean this?" His eyebrows were furrowed in concentration as he reached behind him for a cotton wool ball. I was about to answer but was quickly silenced when he pressed the cotton wool to my forehead. I winced.

"Antiseptic." He muttered when he heard the sharp intake of breath.

He was wiping the cut clean when he stopped and frowned.

"What?" I looked at him out of the corner of my eye.

Neji held a finger over the cut and turned around to root through the black bag behind him, finally producing a pair of tweezers.

"Hold very still." I froze.

He reached up to my forehead with the tweezers and with a finger either side of the cut, he pulled it open. I closed my eyes and bit my lip. My fingers gripped onto the underside of the toilet seat. He used the tweezers to pull something out of the cut and then held it in front of my face. The piece of glass in the tweezers caught my eye.

"_This_" He said, looking straight into my eyes. "Is why _you_ should have gone to hospital."

"I...I'm sorry." I looked at the floor and tried my hardest not to cry, that was all I needed to make this anymore awkward.

Neji put his hand back into the bag and pulled out a melanin dressing and some tape. He taped the dressing to my forehead and then turned around to clear up the cotton wool on the floor behind him.

"Tenten." He turned back to face me again. "Who did this to you." He was frowning at me.

"I.. No-one."

"Why won't you tell me?".

"What's to tell?" I tried to smile at him, to pretend there was nothing wrong.

He pretended to believe me but he didn't look satisfied.

"You can spend the night here." He picked up the bag and walked out.

"Wait! Neji, I'm ok besides. Mum will be expecting me home. I have to get the tea on and..."

"Stay here. You can use my bed. I know it's your mum."

"You know what's my mum?" Neji swung round and looked pointedly at my forehead before closing the door behind him.

I sank down onto the bed. This was the last thing, the worst case scenario. I had hoped to blame it on one of the customers at the bar or something like that, but Neji being Neji, he had probably figured it out two days ago when I came into school wearing sunglasses.

Usually I don't mind Neji knowing things about me, my private life. But this is because he's not exactly a gossip and I can't see him meddling with other peoples business. But this time. The look in his eyes when he held the shard of glass in front of me was... judgemental. I knew he didn't understand, Mum was having a hard time, she couldn't be perfect all the time.

A creak on the door interrupted my thoughts.

"Tenten-san?" Neji's cousin, Hinata pushed the door open slowly. "Father told me you were here." she bit her lip. "Are you ok?"

"Of course! I'm fine!" I saw her eyes drift to my forehead. "I walked into a door! Neji didn't want to leave me alone at home." I pointed to the bandage.

"O..oh" Hinata smiled nervously. "Are you staying over? I..you could borrow some pyjamas. That is, if you want."

"Yes. That would be great!" I smiled at her, and she smiled back before turning to leave. "Wait, Hinata?"

"Y..yes?"

"Where _is_ Neji?" Hinata frowned for a moment.

"I..he went out. I don't know where. sorry" she left the room, closing the door after herself.

I sat on the bed, waiting for Neji to get back for several hours. I wanted to explain things to him, about my mum. I must have fallen asleep because one minute it was 9:30 and the next it was 12:45 and Neji was sleeping on the floor at the foot of the bed.

I got up to go to the toilet and when I got back, he was sitting up, cross legged.

"We need to talk." He said, simply. "About your mum."

I told him everything. Everything that had happened from Mum losing her job, to Neji bringing me home. He didn't interrupt once, just sat there, completely silent until I had finished.

"You can stay here. you can share Hinata's room." He finally spoke, breaking the silence. "Your things are in the corner." He nodded towards the far corner of his room where it appeared the entire contents of my room were stacked.

"Is that where you've been all night. Wait, didn't my mum try to stop you?"

"Yes." I motioned for him to carry on. "I asked what was going on, but she wouldn't say, so I told her you were staying with me for a while, and took your things." He stood up and went to get into the bed.

"Wait. You carried all of that? Here? On your own?"

"Yes."

"You're the biggest wierdo I've ever met!" I smiled at him incredulously.

"Thanks." Neji smirked.

"It's _me_ that should be thanking _you_. Neji."

He grunted in acceptance and rolled over, so his back was to me. I lifted the duvet on the other side and climbed in.

**Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it! if you did, don't forget to review, it excercises your fingers!**

**love from **

**iHEARThyuuga**

**xxx**


	4. Chapter 4

**Nice long one for you here guys. Sorry about the wait, major internet problems, so I thought I'd just merge the two chapters I had written, makes life easier don't you think? **

**hope you like it!**

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Chapter 4

"Tenten? Are you there, Tenten?"

I pulled myself out of the now empty bed, stumbling over to the curtains and pulling them apart. I could see a shadow at the gate and I knew it was mum.

"Tenten, please. Please just come down, and we'll talk, that's it, just talk. Please?"

I picked out a pair of jeans and a grey top from the pile of clothes in the corner of the room and walked to the door, pulling it open slowly. I almost walked into Hinata who was standing at the top of the stairs nervously cracking her fingers.

"Hinata, err good morning!" Hinata turned and smiled at me. "Thankyou, by the way, for... for letting me stay in your room but I think I'm needed at home so, maybe next time yeah?"

"Y..you don't need to thank me Te..Tenten, I..." Hinata was cut off.

"You're not seriously considering going home?" I spun on my heel and saw Neji leaning against the wall behind me.

"N..Neji?! She's my mum, yeah so we argue and sometimes it esculates..."

"Hn! There's esculating and then there's actual bodily harm. Tell me, if this is just an argument which got out of hand, why isn't your mother covered with scratches and bruises?"

"I..I.. I'm just less handy with my fists! but we always make up and...it's usually my fault in the first place anyway. I love her Neji, she's all I've got." I looked at him pleadingly, his eyes were hollow.

"Do whatever you want." He stalked away towards a door in the opposite end of the corridor leaving me alone and confused.

"Tenten! you came!" Mum was positivey bouncing by the gate. I shifted the bin bag on my shoulder containing most of my things, Neji had not reappeared but I assumed I would see him at school and we could talk then-he seemed pretty annoyed.  
'what the hell does he know?-nothing!' I thought angrily to myself.

"Tenten?" Mum woke me from my thoughts.  
"Oh, hi Mum, erm.. sorry about last night I just needed some space to think, but I'm back now and we can start over, right?" I pulled the gate open and stepped into the road with her, there was a funny smell in the air, one that was oddly familiar but I brushed it aside.

"Sure hun, anything you want!" She hugged me briefly then took my hand as we walked down the street. We walked straight through the centre of town, past the mall and school and then eventually past the bar I work in, I shuddered inwardly, Sakura had already advised me to quit and I knew she was right, I thought about telling Mum, maybe I could get a job in Ino's Mum's shop.

"Hey, Mum. About my job..." I started, feeling the roof of my mouth geting dry.

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot. I went in to see Tatsuma-san, I explained about our home situation-actually I hoped he might give me a job but he said he had no vacancies. So anyway I pleaded some more and he has agreed to give you more shifts, It's great isn't it!" She beamed at me.

"Yeah Mum, I'm really excited. When will I be working?"I felt my heart sink and a feeling of dread filled my stomach.

"well, every weekday, 4:00 till 12:30 except for thursday and friday when you finish at 2:00 and then saturday is 4:00 till 4:00 and sunday is 4:00 till 11:30. Neat eh!?" She grinned at me as we turned into the street our flat is down.

I haven't told you about where we live yet. Akarui close, is not exactly aptly named; (Akarui translates to bright). There are nine apartment blocks- four on each side and one at the end of the close. we live in the one at the end. The street is narrow and the towering blocks overshadow it meaning there is often very little light. There is a little neglected grass on the verges inbetween each block and a court for bins, cars and the like. These blocks were the type of place where you kept yourself to yourself. You kept your eyes and your ears shut. What you didn't know, couldn't come back to haunt you. Besides, most people had problems enough without worrying about next doors domestics.

Don't get me wrong, there are some perks to living in Akarui, with the high crime rate I'm at least three times more likely to star on the evening news. No, seriously, there are some perks. Those who aren't phsycopathic, abusive or rude are really close knit. We have a great community! I can think of one Hyuuga who wouldn't see it that way though!

So, me and Mum turned into Akarui, and made our way to our flat, climbing all the stairs-the lifts aren't the most hygenic places. Second floor from the top of a 28 story building is no mean feat!

"So, do I start... tonight?" I turned to my mum as we stumbled in through the front door.

"Sure you do! Do you ever listen?" she giggled as she tripped over a pair of shoes against the wall. "Hey listen, what do you want for dinner?" her eyes had an odd glint in them, too shiny.

"I don't know, what ever we've got I suppose." I lifted my voice at the end of the statement, almost in question. I wasn't questioning her. I was questioning myself.

"Why don't you go and take a look?" she looked as though she was suppressing something, trying not to laugh.

I walked slowly over to one of the cupboards, I didn't even know what I was uncertain about. I pulled it open warily. I was right to, I was taken by a torrade of plastic packets. I paused to pick one up; 'Sweet Shop Favourites' and another; 'liquorice allsorts' and another;'fizzy cola bottles'. I opened the next cupboard, it was the same, and the next, and the next.

"Sweets! remember hun, your favourites, my favourites, all of them, our favourites!" she giggled again, almost falling off the chair.

"Mum," I stepped closer to her. "Mum, where is all the food?" she stopped laughing, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Who needs ordinary food when we have love? love and sweets! she laughed again, this time falling off her chair for real. It was then that I realised the familiar smell at the Hyuuga gates had been alcohol. She was drunk.

"Mum! where is the food?" I stepped closer again, lifting her off of her feet.

"Ow that hurt!" she slapped my hands away.

"Mum!"

"Well, It's a funny story actually, you see I bought all of these sweets as a welcome home present for you but then when I got home there wasn't anywhere to hide them so I emptied the cupboards to make room for them, butthen there was nowhere to put the food so I threw it out!" she giggled again. I looked at the clock; 3:50 'hell'

"You're impossible!" I stormed out of the flat grabbing a jacket on the way out, with any luck, I could retrieve the food from the big bins before ayone else thought too and make it to work all in 10 minutes.

--one week later--

I did get the food back, luckily. But I was late for work, not so luckily! I have to say that working at least eight ours a night seven days a week is every bit as hard as it sounds, if not harder. On friday I fell asleep in class, which I could have dealt with but I fell asleep on Neji. Not the best idea, he got suspicious, so I agreed to him picking me up after work the next day.

Mum hasn't hit me in a while though, and with all the money I'm earning she's bought a car, it's nothing special, it cost us 100 dollars from the scrap yard then we got it road tested for another 200. So now I get picked up from school again, which is nice.

It was saturday and I was late for work, as usual It was my first 12 hour shift and Tatsuma was a slave driver, I'd be lucky with half an hour of idle bliss, with which to eat my dinner.  
The shift passed with few qualms, outside the norm anyway. There was the usual standard of pond-life at the bar, drinking themselves into a fresh kind of debt whilst swearing like sailors and throwing the odd sleazy comment my way.

I finished early at 3:45. I figured I'd just wait out back, sitting on an upturned bucket with my coat wrapped tightly around me, and my wages stuffed safe down my bra, you take no chances in this part of town. I was ok for the first ten minutes but then I heard a door slam as Tatsuma left, whistling tunelessly through his teeth. Then I heard shuffling in the dark and two men emerged from the side.

The first was only just taller than me but considerably wider, he looked like he hadn't shaved or bathed in a month, and his breath reeked like an ash tray with vodka poured over the top. He leered at me.  
The second was taller, about 5'9" but still reasonably well built horizontly, he had a faded red cap on and lips like two greasy, raw sausages, still tied together.

"Fancy a bit of fun?" The shorter asked in a thick Osaka accent. The taller just smirked.

"I..I have to go now so see you next week bye" I gabbled as I stood up, the bucket was knocked to the ground as one of the men made a reach for me and I fled. I could hear them behind me, they were quite fast. For drunks. I turned a corner in effort to lose them, and with a sinking feeling I realised I was in a dead end. I spun around to face my fate, checking my watch. 4:05 'Neji will be waiting.' why the hell was I thinking about the Hyuuga in a time like, this. I swallowed warily but there was no saliva in my mouth. I saw a shadow fall across the mouth of the dead end, and trembled slightly as the taller of the two walked slowly towards me.

"That. Was. Rude." He panted slightly, his breath in my face. "We just wanted some fun, but if you're not going to play nice. Then neither am I." He grabbed the front of my shirt and pushed me against the wall. I struugled against him, flailing helplessly under his grip. Those sausage lips moved closer to my face and I clamped my mouth shut as he tried to claim my lips. after what seemed like n age he moved down to my collarbone, leaving a string of hungry saliva on my chin his drool was rolling in one lazy drop down my chest, his hands, big clammy hands were fumbling at my shirt, all the while I kicked and shouted. He was too drunk to manage the buttons so he ripped them off, it was then that I bit him, on the shoulder. His blood was metallic in my mouth and I spat it out in disgust. His hands, which were starting to rome my stomach jerked away.

"You little whore!" he back handed me across the face, his ring bit into my cheek. Was he married? Who cared. He grabbed my hair and pulled my head back sharply, holding it against the wall, stopping me from trying anything like that again.

My head connected with the wall, and I felt the familiar haze approaching I welcomed it. This was one of those times when ignorance would definitely be bliss. As the last of my concsiousness ebbe away, The hands drew away again and I heard someone hit the floor, and then I hit the floor.

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**Thanks for reading, I really appreciated it, please let me know what you think I really value your opinions!**

**love from **

**iHEARThyuuga**

**xxx**


	5. Chapter 5

**A short one, because I am busy, but there'll be another soon! Please enjoy!**

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Chapter 5

I don't normally remember anything from the edge of concsiousness, but that night is as clear as if it were yesterday, to me.  
I remember the hands, those big clammy hands, helpless with alcohol. I remember my head colliding with the wall, I remember little before then. I remember when it stopped, the hands jerking away, the sound of a body hitting the floor, and then my knees buckled and I couldn't hold myself up anymore.

I pressed my cheek against the wall, feeling the cold bricks pressing on my face, relishing in the numbness spreading across my flesh. And then the sound of a fist connecting with a face, and then a body crumpled onto the floor and then footsteps, running footsteps.

"Tenten?" Twin moons hovered above me. "Tenten!? Wake up, Tenten open your eyes!"

"They are open, idiot." I replied into the darkness feeling hot tears falling down my face. I reached out and grabbed a fistful of shirt, holding on tight.

"Don't.Ever.Do that.Again." The look in his eyes was hard and his dark hair had come loose, hanging by his shoulders.

And then I was safe, arms held me tight, I couldn't sit up but my head was pressed into his shoulder, I cried.

I don't know how long we sat there, but all of a sudden I became aware that it was light.

"Dawn" Neji muttered into my hair.

I turned my head and pushed myself into a sitting position, realising, a little too late that my shirt was hanging open.

"Did he..?" Neji trailed off but I knew what he was getting at.

"No. You stopped him." I tried to use a couple of hair pins to secure the shirt, to no avail.

Neji pulled off his jacket and handed it to me wordlessly, I took it, feeling tears filling my eyes again.

"Thank you, Neji I..I..." I couldn't finish the sentence and I turned away in embarassment

"It's ok, Tenten, you're going to be ok."

I nodded and turned to pull the jacket over the remains of my uniform, doing the buttons up slowly, my arms hurt.

I smiled limply at him and he took my hand and led me through the maze of alleys towards my home, his grip tightened as the block drew into sight.

"Thanks, Neji. I can go up alone." I tried to pull my hand out of his to take off his jacket, but he held me fast, dragging me towards the entrance.

"I would like to speak with your mother." There was something in his voice that disturbed me, something behind the stern coolness. At first I thought it was anger but it felt deeper than that, I realised with a shock that Neji was hurt. That I had hurt him by refusing his help.

I decided at this point not to question him as the chances of me making it up to my flat without him were pretty slim anyway.

I leaned heavily on him as we made our way towards the front door and didn't remove contact while we stood in quiet reverie, waiting for the lift.

We were awoken by the sliding doors and as they closed again I began to wonder whether I could last for 27 floors of stale urine or whether I should just succumb to the waves of dizzy drowsiness. The lift tolled it's arrival at my floor 'saved by the bell' literally.

My flat door is right opposite the lift so I was able to stumble towards it on my own, I reached for my key but remembered too late that I had left my jacket behind the bar.

"I don't want to wake her up, can I stay at yours?" I looked at Neji hopefully, he ignored me and reached past me to knock on the door.

The single rap cut through the muggy silence and I held my breath in anticipation. 'please please please be sober, please act normal.' I cursed inwardly as I heard heavy footsteps from within.

The door swung open slowly and Mum, looking for all the world like a zombie, pushed her head round the crack.

"You." she stated flatly, looking at Neji with blurred eyes. Neji glared back.

"A word." He pushed the door open and pulled me through behind him.

I leaned on the table using one hand to prop myself up, the other was being suffocated by Neji's. Neji, who was now staring daggers at my Mum.

"So, Tenten, how was work?" Mum leaned towards me completely ignoring the bristling, 6 ft, 17 year old standing beside me.

"I..." I didn't finish and looked at the floor instead, the floor doesn't ask questions, it doesn't yell or fight, it just looks back. I like the floor. Neji, it seems, does not like the floor as he made pretty plain that night as he bore two neat holes into my mothers forhead, with white hot drills.

"She can't work there anymore!" He growled, if Hyuugas exploded, his would have had a blast radius bigger than any scientifically recorded. However, Hyuugas never exploded, infact it was forbidden. So Neji imploded instead, to such an extent that Tenten could pratically hear his blood boiling.

"Did you earn much? Don't just stand there, get it out!" Mum was leaning forwards towards me, eagerly now. I reached into my top, fumbling to reach out the cash. I froze, feeling the blood drain from my head.

"She was almost raped!!" Neji was almost growling, he slammed a fist onto the table in effort to catch Mum's attention.

"I..I can't... It's gone!" I looked at Mum for a fleeting second to see her expression sour and then I looked down at the floor again.

"The money!? Bloody hell! I thought we'd got around this..this lying. You haven't been at work have you!? You've been out spending MY money with that BLOODY BRAT!!" She stood up and slammed her hands on the table punctuating the last word.

The words reverbrated around the room and hung in the air like the fumes of a rotten egg. And then they shattered.

First there was a twitch in his eyebrow, then his jaw visibly tensed to breaking point, his eyes, wide with fury. Hyuuga Neji exploded.

"DID YOU NOT HEAR ME!! SHE WAS ATTACKED! YOUR DAUGHTER WAS ATTACKED AND ALL YOU CARE ABOUT IS YOUR FILTHY MONEY!!" He paused to catch breath then opened his mouth again. This time his face was more set, his jaw had slackened and his eyes relaxed.

"You can have all the money you want. But I am never letting you anywhere near Tenten again." He stormed out of the flat dragging me with him, his hand still clamped around mine, like the coupling joining the carriages to the train. And for once I followed.

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**Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it, I would love to know opinions on this so please review! thanks!**

**love from**

**iHEARThyuuga**

**xxx**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello readers! It's been such a long time I can't believe it! Since I last wrote I've strated university and it's just taken so much of my life but, summers on the way and I really want to get this fic done before second year! sorry it's soooo late and many thanks for waiting this long :D **

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**Chapter 6**

'Are you ok?' Hinata daubed at the thin line of dried blood which had rolled down my cheek, the ointment stung and I was grateful, it kept my thoughts from my mother and my attacker.  
I looked down at the smaller Hyuuga my mind replaying leaving the club, being followed, I shook my head in an attempt to lose the memory, I once heard that you could give yourself brain damage by shaking your head. Maybe I could damage my brain enough to forget any of this happened.

'I'm fine' I tried to appease Hinata with a nonchalant shrug but it wasn't working. My eyes kept sliding from her face to the ground, and I couldn't persuade my shoulders to move the way they wanted to. Instead I settled for what I thought looked like deep concentration.

Hinata reached out and held my hand gently;

"Neji told me what happened." she whispered softly, "you are welcome here for as long as you want."

"W..what?!" I could tell my face had changed dramatically by Hinata's reaction, hurt and confusion flashed across her face before she regained composure straightening her skirt slightly.

"I know that you fell out with your mum".

It wasn't that I didn't appreciate Neji covering for her, it really wasn't. But I did not know which was worse, the Hyuugas knowing about my mum or about the incident earlier that evening. I fell back onto the bed in defeat. Neji had chosen _for_ me, like he always did.

"Bloody hell! You've got to look where you're going tarmac is definitely not good for the complexion!" Hanabi drawled from the doorway. I didn't know she was there and I jumped violently. Hinata, who was already eying me very suspiciously, opened her mouth to say something but she was stopped by a third voice.

"It wasn't tarmac it was stairs" Neji stalked into the room carrying a box of my things. "Thank you Hinata-sama" The two Hyuugas mumbled excuses and left closing the door behind them.

Neji sat on the bed next to me, it dipped a little, and I was barely balancing before so I had to clench my toes to stay on the bed.

"I should keep a bigger medicine cabinet" he muttered, I felt myself begin to laugh but the lack of humour made it sound more like crying so I eventually gave up and let the tears fall.

Neji remained silent next to me watching my face carefully.

"W..where did y..you g..g..go?" I hiccoughed.

"I went back, to get your things again." I looked at the box on his lap, noting that it hadn't been unpacked since my last visit.

"Why did you tell Hinata I fell down the stairs?" Neji put the box on the floor by the bed.

"You can tell her the truth when you want to, it wasn't my truth to tell."

He got up and walked over to the door. "You should get some sleep."

"You'll come back won't you? You won't leave me?" Neji's brow creased momentarily into an expression that I could not interpret.

He seemed almost to hesitate for a moment before replying with a simple "Hn".

It was nearly 5:30 and, too tired for anything else, I lay back onto the covers, my feet still touching the floor at the end of the bed. I fell into an uneasy sleep where my dreams were like watching my evening in a soap or reading it in a book.

-----------flashback(Tenten's dream)-----------

_More than anything, I remember the sound of my blood pumping round my ears. A relentless throbbing, it was how I would imagine the end of the world to sound, and in a way, it was the end of a world. The end of my world with my mother._

_I remember other things as well, my mums drunken face her voice which scratched through my protective shell. I stumbled through her interrogation adrenaline keeping me upright and void of emotion. I especially remember Neji's outburst, I'd never seen him shout and I've known him for a very long time. _

_The look on mum's face when he'd finished. Then it was a blur. The door was open. I was being dragged out. I wanted it to stop, I wanted to stay, I wanted the expression on mum's face __to mean that she was going to change. But a small voice deep inside my head reminded me that she'd said she would change last time, and the time before. So had dad. So I let him take me, leading me by the hand. Leading me._

_It didn't sink in until we were half way between the Hyuuga estate and my flat. The adrenaline which I had been running off ran out. I felt my knees give way and I fell to the ground overwhelmed with all of the emotion I should have been feeling in the flat. _

_I don't think I have ever cried so much in my life. I cried in fear, I cried in shame, in anger, in shock, in relief. I cried for me. I cried for mum. Neji stood above me for a while, intending to wait till the end of my display. But when I showed no sign of stopping, he sat on the curb next to me and pulled me into his lap, stroking my hair with his middle and third finger._

_After ten minutes I had drained myself of tears and used up the remainder of my energy. Neji stood up abruptly and took my hand once more leading me the rest of the way to his home._

_Neji opened the door for me and I stepped in first, instead of following me he shut it in my face, I cried out in surprise and shouted after him, pressing my face against the frosted glass but he did not turn, I struggled with the lock trying to get the key into the hole but my fear made me clumsy and I dropped it. I pushed open the letter box and shouted desperately through it but he couldn't hear me._

_----------- End flashback-----------_

The scene disappeared as quickly as it had arrived when a hand reached through the darkness and slapped meshocking me breathing was heavy, I was hopelessly entangled within the bed sheets and my forehead was clammy. Neji's hand reached over again but this time to press a flannel against my forehead.

"I'm sorry I hit you. You weren't waking up." He wiped the sweat from my face, then placed the cloth on the table next to my head.

I was speechless I was still disorientated from being woken up so suddenly and I could only stare frantically into his eyes taking comfort in the tranquility of pure white. He sat straight again and I felt my hand shoot out to grab his wrist.

"Don't go" I whispered clawing desperately at his sleeve. He lifted the duvet cover and slipped under it, I moved my grip to the front of his shirt, curling up against him. He placed one hand on my back and the other on the back of my head, pulling me to him.

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**Thankyou so much for reading I hope you liked it it's great to be back please review me so I feel the motivation to write again!**

**love from **

**iHEARThyuuga**

**xxx**


	7. Real Chapter 7

**Hello strangers! As promised here is the next wee installment, it's a bit longer than the rest, I think I owe you guys at least that much! I hope you enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer: Oh wow it's been a long time since I've written one of these, well, you know the score guys. I. Own. Nothing. (No kidding I'm living out of a suitcase in Berlin!)**

**enjoyxxx**

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**Chapter 7(finally!)**

Neji was gone when I woke, surprisingly late the next morning, but this didn't surprise me. Ordinarily I'd have been worried that I was missing a school day but there just didn't seem to be enough room in my brain for that so I let it slide. I found a pile of washed clothes at the end of my bed and was grateful for the small miracle that had allowed me to be asleep when whoever put them there was in the room. I just wasn't up for social interaction. My legs complained as my feet hit the floor, I hissed slightly surprised as to how stiff they felt. On closer inspection the pile of clothes at the end of the bed were all Hinata's, nice, neat, dresses. There was no way I was going to wear a dress with the bruises on my legs being so... prominent, so I dug through Neji's things and found some of his gym clothes; Grey draw-string trousers, a white t-shirt and a navy fleece. I almost fell into the shower and, reaching for the most astringent looking product, I attempted to clean myself. I hadn't realised how dirty I felt until I began to clean, the steam and smell of soap was somewhat calming and I felt my thoughts draining out of my head like sand from a sand-timer. Stepping out of the hot water I wrapped myself in a towel and returned to the bedroom. I quickly located my underwear in the box of my things and giggled to myself at the thought of Neji rummaging through my underwear looking as nonchalant as he would doing his Chemistry homework. Pulling on Neji's clothes, I was glad of the draw-string and the comfort of being completely covered.

The material was soft and I found myself bringing one of the cuffs of the fleece to my nose to smell. It smelt like Neji always does, like detergent. There was a small cough from the doorway and I jumped, spinning around quickly to meet Hyuuga Hiashi's eyes, which at that moment seemed to be looking out the window but I was used to this trick, I knew I was being surveyed. He opened his mouth and I stopped breathing.

"Neji has asked my permission for you to stay here for a while"

I tried desperately to dislodge my tongue from the roof of my mouth, unable to look away from his gaze.

"Is this your intention?"

I opened my mouth and closed it again like a goldfish.

"I..I don't want to... impose..." Hiashi narrowed his eyes slightly at my falter.

"But it is your wish to stay here?"

"Yes... Hiashi-sama"

"Then I will put it to the council."

Then he left, leaving me, standing, _shaking_ in the middle of Neji's room with my lip under my teeth. This was _Hiashi_, he had always been a honorary father to me; stern but kind. Yet I could hardly utter a word to him, I had called him 'Hiashi-_sama_'. As a stranger looking in I don't suppose you can understand just how ridiculous this was for me. You see, Neji's uncle, Hiashi, is scary, and I don't just mean _If-you-don't-do-your-homework-I'm-not-letting-you-out-'till-Easter _scary. Even Neji calls him Hiashi-_sama,_ but I don't. I never have. He's just always been 'Hiashi' to me. However, now, I was clutching Neji's bed post behind me and trying desperately to stop my knees from giving way underneath me. I felt a hot, frustrated tear roll down my cheek and sighed unevenly, lifting my hand shakily from the bed, I pushed the bedside table to one side and sat on the floor in between the two pieces of furniture, glad of the security the small space gave, letting my chin rest on my bent knees and wrapping my arms around my shins. I tried closing my eyes but when I did, it felt like there was someone else in the room, so I kept them open.

I don't know how long I sat there, but by and by, the day passed and, it began to get darker. Before I knew it, the sound of closing doors could be heard, and feet on steps, and without me realising, someone must have entered the room because the light clicked on, and a pair of trouser-clad knees appeared in front of my eyes.

"Tenten" it was Neji, I couldn't bring myself to look at him, what if I reacted in the same way I had with Hiashi? Neji was all I had at that moment and I wanted to go on pretending for as long as possible that I could hold some kind of relationship with him. I heard my voice reply, it sounded distant and I wasn't sure if it was me that spoke.

The knees bent and were replaced by a chin and a bottom lip. I frowned, concentrating on keeping my gaze on his chin and not meeting his eyes. His fingers reached under my chin and guided my head upwards, tricking my eyes into looking into his. Neji's eyes were hard and his characteristic smirk gone but his fingers were gentle and I found myself slowly returning to reality. The relief of seeing him flooded through me and my lip wobbled slightly, I held it still with my teeth. I hadn't realised that I had missed him until now and it was like I was seeing in colour for the first time all day.

"Hiashi came in this morning, I could hardly look him in the eye, I was so _scared_" I felt my brows furrow in disbelief but Neji's expression didn't falter.

"I know" he said softly "He told me." his hair, immaculately tied back, glinted in the light and I was distracted by it, momentarily.

"Have you been sitting here since this morning?" Neji's brow furrowed ever so slightly as he spoke.

"Yeah, I think so."

"You should eat something" he pulled his hand out from under my chin and stood up, towering above me. I felt something move inside me and felt that if he left I wouldn't be able to bear it.

"I'm not hungry" I lied, but my stomach betrayed me and Neji cocked an eyebrow at me.

He turned to the door and began to walk towards it.

"I'll come" I gabbled, standing up and walking a little too fast to stand by Neji's side. He narrowed his eyes slightly but pushed open the door and carried on anyway.

We stepped into the corridor and I found myself stepping closer to Neji as we walked through the now dimly lit Hyuuga house. The corridors were wider than most and had mahogany-coloured floor boards that, as a child, I had skidded on in my socks with Rock Lee. The walls were plastered and painted white. I vaguely remember when they used to be paper screening, but when they had central heating installed in the hallways, Hiashi had pointed out the amount of money they could save by building insulated walls. Every 6' or so was a wall lamp on each side of the corridor, and underneath some of these were radiators, the lamps were dim and I knew from experience that they often broke. A space in the hallways without lighting approached and I instinctively latched on to Neji's arm, he didn't say anything, but bent it slightly, allowing me to fit my arm through the gap in between his and his body. I was grateful and held on to his arm with both of mine pushing myself as close to him as I could. As we passed through the shadow, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end and I felt my legs wobbling slightly, Neji turned to me then with a questioning look on his face.

"Are you ok? Tenten?" his voice was low, but surprised.

I managed a quick nod and as if he understood, he quickened his pace. I was disgusted with myself, I had never been afraid of the dark, living on the estate with Mum was what it meant to be in the dark. Especially when we couldn't afford the bills. In fact I had always liked the dark, it's much easier to hide, but being in the corridor with Neji, reminded me of the previous night and I could feel the man's clammy hands and his wet lips, the panic as he grabbed my shirt, I could hear his voice and the sound of his footsteps behind me. It was making bile rise in my throat. I felt so vulnerable and weak.

Reaching a doorway, Neji stopped and pushed open the door, turning on the lights to reveal the brightly lit kitchen. The room was about 6m2 and the floor, walls and ceiling were all white. The cupboards were dark brown and had a pale granite surface. Immediately to the left of the door was an island counter with 5 bar stools behind it. Behind this was a door, which led to the main dining room. On the opposite wall was a window and a sink below it, the sink had counters on either side and cupboards above them. On the wall opposite the door we stood in was a large, double fridge and an oven. The room felt clinical to me and me and Neji often found ourselves eating at Ichiraku's over cooking in this cold room.

Neji pulled his arm out of mine to reach for some plates from one of the cupboards.

"Go and sit down" he ushered, "I won't be long"

I sat on one of the stools at the breakfast bar, glad that it was a relatively small kitchen and watched Neji piece together a couple of plates of cold food from the fridge. He pulled a cardboard cup of pre-made hot chocolate from one of the cupboards and put it in the microwave. The kind of ridiculous luxury that the Hyuuga's always seemed to have in abundance.

"You better replace that Neji, it's the last one." Hanabi's hard voice appeared behind me, making me jump slightly.

"Hey Tenten, how's the face, leg, arm... whatever?" she smirked at me and I felt oddly comforted by her confidence.

"Recovering" Neji answered for me giving Hanabi a distinct 'back-off' glare. But it bounced off her as usual and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"I see you chose not to wear Hinata's dresses, I don't blame you, they suck. I swear everything she wears is lilac and loose-fitting, what a wash out!"

"Hanabi" Neji warned.

"Yeah, yeah, ok, ok." she leant closer to me looking conspirational; "That's not to say_ he_ wouldn't want you to wear one..."

"Right, that's it Hanabi. Out!" Neji almost barked across the kitchen.

"Whatever." Hanabi turned around and opened the door behind me "Too easy" she muttered before closing it behind her. I felt the amusement bubble inside me before the door was closed and for the first time all day, I felt hungry.

The microwave pinged and Neji put a plate of bread, cheese, ham and grapes in front of me as well as the cardboard cup of hot chocolate. We ate in relative silence and when I had finished, Neji took my plate to the sink, washed it and put it on the draining board to dry. He walked back over to where I was sitting and took my hand.

"Come on"

He pulled me off the stool lightly and lead me to the door. He turned off the light and my hand tightened on his, my other hand reaching to hold a piece of his shirt at his elbow . We walked through the dark patch of the corridor quickly and when we reached the lighter area again I felt myself letting go of a breath I didn't know I had been holding. I let go of his elbow but left my hand in his, enjoying the comfort. We soon reached Neji's room again and I yawned loudly as if the sight of the bed made me realise how tired I was.

"What time is it?" I asked, letting go of Neji's hand

"9:30" Neji walked over to my things and pulled out one of my night-shirts "here"

He handed it to me along with my toothbrush.

"Thanks" I muttered, hobbling over to the bathroom.

I washed my face and cleaned my teeth and then took off my clothes. I gasped, catching sight of myself in the mirror. Apart from the old head injury that Neji had fixed up a few weeks ago, there were now dark rings round my eyes, a cut on my chin and a thumb-shaped bruise on my collarbone. My elbows were grazed and there were also bruises on my wrists and thighs. I shuddered and turned away, throwing the night-shirt over my head. It was an old green flannel shirt that fell to my knees. The sleeves used to hang past my hands but I had cut them off a while ago. Feeling somewhat exposed I returned to the bedroom. Neji looked up when the door opened and his jaw locked when he saw my arms and legs.

"I'll get in bed" I said, nervously, climbing into the bed and pulling the covers up.

Neji nodded and disappeared into the bathroom.

He was back in ten minutes changed into a white T-shirt and boxers. He stopped by the light switch and turned to face me.

"Can I turn this off?" I thought about it and then nodded. I had reasoned with myself that when your eyes are closed, you can't tell whether the light is on or not, so it wouldn't be as scary.

I was wrong. It was every bit as scary, but I was already pretty ashamed of my previous performance in the hallway and I wanted to prove to Neji that I wasn't completely useless.

So as he climbed into the bed, I rolled up into the foetal position on the opposite side, with the duvet pulled up over my head, and my eyes screwed tightly shut. We lay in silence for about 15 minutes and then one of the bed-side lights clicked on and a hand rested on my arm. I reached toward it with one of mine and pulled Neji's arm over my waist, bringing his hand to rest underneath my chin. The heat of him behind me in the bed was somehow making me feel calm and nervous at the same time.

Neji shifted slightly as I was drifting off to sleep, my lips grazed against his knuckles and without thinking I kissed them sleepily, inhaling his scent.

I woke relatively early the next morning, and rolled over to see Neji to my right, lying on his back with his eyes open. His left arm was underneath my neck and I must have been using his hand as a pillow when I was asleep. He turned his head and looked at me, searching my face with his eyes.

"Morning" I whispered, rubbing one of my eyes with the back of my hand.

Neji smirked slightly and sat up. He slowly undid the plait that his hair had been in and turned to me.

"I'm going to get some breakfast, I won't be long. Will you be ok?" he stood up and pushed myself up with my hands, so I was sitting cross legged on the bed.

"Yeah, fine. I'll be fine" and I felt like I would be.

I felt safer here, in Neji's bed than I had in a long time. Maybe it was the full nights sleep or maybe it was just a contrast to how I felt at home.

Neji pulled on some jogging bottoms and left the room with a short nod. I puffed up the pillows behind me and lay back on them, closing my eyes and concentrating on counting down from a thousand. Neji's bedroom was pretty well hidden in the Hyuuga house and the only one on the top floor. When I say top floor, I mean attic. Hiashi had part of the house's attic converted into a large bedroom with an en-suite bathroom, he did this because it meant that Neji had to walk past Hiashi's room on the third floor before he could go into his own room one floor up. This was during Neji's 'rebellious' phase. I know, rebellious is the last word that comes to mind when you think of the neat-haired, suit-clad, emotionally-depraved Hyuuga; but he seriously went through this phase of rebellion. He refused to talk to Hiashi, Hinata or Hanabi and got into fights a lot. (Especially with this boy called Sasuke, who left like five years ago to go to private school) To be honest, he was acting like an idiot, and I reminded him of this a lot. Then this kid from the year below smacked him round a bit and somehow knocked some sense into him, et voilà! Rebellion over.

So anyway, Hiashi had this room built, but there was a really big skylight in the roof, and me and Neji had long since discovered how to climb the tree next to the roof, so his bedroom became one of the best places for hiding out and being antisocial.

I got out of the bed and went into the bathroom, pulling my hair out of it's messy buns and retying it as I went. Closing the door behind me, I reached for my toothpaste and brush and did my teeth in the mirror, scrutinising my face as I did so. The bruise on my forehead was almost gone and the rest were slowly going purple/brown, which was a nice change from the black that they were yesterday. Hinata's ointment is pure genius (even though I think it's just Arnica). I heard the door in the bedroom click shut and felt my heart speed up, but when Neji called out I calmed down again, feeling a bit stupid. I spat in the sink and put my toothbrush in the holder. I found Neji, sitting on his bed drinking what I presumed to be coffee from an ivory-coloured, china mug. He put the mug down on the table and reached for a tray, on the tray was a boiled egg, a bowl and a croissant.

"You boiled me an egg?" I smirked at him, the idea of Neji boiling eggs struck me as amusing, but I was touched.

Neji hates eggs, he always has, but every time I stayed the night when we were younger, I boiled two eggs in the morning. He always ate his and it wasn't till 3 years ago, when Hanabi told me, that I found out he didn't like them. Neji usually eats Muesli for breakfast, fruit and oats, typical Hyuuga simplicity.

He shrugged at me now, silently putting the tray on the bed beside him. I climbed on so the tray was between us. The bowl was, predictably, full of muesli. I picked up the teaspoon and set about cracking the top of the egg.

"What day is it?" I mumbled round a mouthful of egg white.

"Saturday"

"Oh"

I couldn't help thinking of my mum sitting in the kitchen getting drunk on her own. Would she even notice that I wasn't there? Would it matter to her? Maybe it did, but I hated the thought of her being upset and alone, because despite everything, she was my mother.

"We should do something or go somewhere, to take your mind off things." Neji was speaking into his mug of coffee, trying to look nonchalant, but he knew what I was thinking about. I was sure of it.

"Like what? Take in a film at the cinema?" I said sarcastically.

Neji frowned at me slightly and I felt a bit guilty.

"Neji, I don't really want to leave your room in case I meet someone, let alone go to the cinema."

"Hn" affirmative from the Hyuuga.

"We could play cards?"

"You cheat at everything" he was smirking now.

"_I do not!" _I protested

"Card counting is cheating, Tenten."

"What if we play go fish or a _board_ game?"

Neji rarely played board games. I think he thought they were childish. Twenty minutes later, we found ourselves seated cross legged on Neji's floor, arguing heatedly over a Monopoly set, and we would have done happily for many more hours had it not been for the knock on the door.

"Come in" Neji almost barked in irritation.

Hanabi entered the room and narrowed her eyes slightly at me.

"Tenten, I just spoke to a Mr Sakumoro on the phone, um... he says he's your Mum's lawyer." Hanabi was a strange mix of confused and irritated.

I felt all the blood drain from my head and felt Neji's hand clasp mine across the board. I looked up and we stared at each other in dread for a tense moment.

"Can somebody please tell me what the _hell_ is going on here?"

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**Oooh little cliffhanger there. Sorry I can't resist, but I'll try and update as soon as possible, should be reasonably easy seeing as how there's a two week school holiday starting today! I _love_ being a teacher. Also before I forget, ahem. REVIEW (please!)**

**Love from**

**iHEARThyuuga**

**xxx**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey! So it's been forever since I did this, well I'm sorry, honest. still here's the next chapter.**

**x**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

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"I never thought I'd hear myself say this," Hanabi sat on the desk by the window, the phone lying on the floor where she'd dropped it at some point in the conversation.

"We should tell Dad."

I felt my heart stutter and choked, "Hiashi?"

I looked at Neji, who was now standing with his back to us, looking out the window.

"If your mum is hiring a lawyer, I think we're out of our depth." Hanabi picked at the dirt under one of her purple nails.

"W..why is she hiring a lawyer?" I could not believe things had gotten so dramatic.

Hanabi laughed flicking her hair over her shoulder.

"Some shit about our family encouraging you in your delinquency!" She grasped her face in mock agony; "To think, I have to sleep across the hall from a delinquent. I can't bear it!".

Even I had to laugh at this a little.

"It's not funny!" Neji was glaring a Hanabi. "Hiashi could get in trouble;" He turned to look at me, "Your mum could force you to live with her again. Hanabi's right, we need to tell Hiashi."

I tried to swallow but my throat was painfully dry all of a sudden. I dreaded the thought of bringing the subject up with Hiashi, especially after my reaction to him the previous day.

If you'd have asked me then 'what do you want Tenten?' you know, if I could have anything, no strings attached, I wanted to live with the Hyuugas, with Neji, more than anything. Happy, safe and cared for. To be honest I think most people my age would like to live with their best friends. I also knew that if I stayed with them, then there may be a legal battle of some magnitude with my mum, which is insane!

I didn't want Neji and his family to go through that, I didn't want them to spend their time and money trying to make my life more comfortable. I remember sitting on the floor next to the game board, the dice still tight in my left hand, thinking about Neji's family and about what it would mean if they fought for me.

Then, suddenly I began to feel the strangest thing. Irritation at first, then anger, which developed into white hot fury. Why was Mum doing this? I wanted to shake her hard and scream at her. Didn't she know it was best for me here? If she loved me, why couldn't she let me go? Why was she wasting money on a lawyer when we could had sorted this out between us?

The sudden anger unlocked even more anger at everything around me, I found myself cursing at the fat old man who I had worked for, and the stranger who had attacked me that night. I was so angry I could have cut myself in two.

I had to get out and, I still can't remember what I said in Neji's bedroom that night, but one minute; I had made up my mind to get out, and the next; I was standing under one of the old willow trees in the Hyuuga compound with the night air brushing through my fringe. I leaned further back against the smooth bark, catching one of the leafy tendrils that hung down around me. The small dull leaves seemed almost blue at night, I laughed in surprise when I realised I still had the dice in my hand, I had been in such a hurry to get out. I tossed them onto the ground next to me. Double 6. The cold grass felt good against my hand and I rubbed it harshly to try and get the indentations left by the dice out.

I din't feel so angry anymore, not so much at Mum anyway. She was so like a child, I had always felt responsible for her, and my love was unconditional, as I knew hers for me should be. She was so stubborn, that I knew that she would never take back the threat of a lawsuit now one had been made. I knew the only way to avoid court would be to go home. I closed my eyes and let out the breath I'd been holding. Could I? Was there some way I could bargain. I could say that I would never work at that bar again, and that she had to stop drinking maybe we could be a family again. I opened my eyes again and noticed another silhouette under the tree with me.

Hinata was picking at the hem of her dress and opening and closing her mouth. She pressed her hand face down on the grass suddenly and looked up at me.

"They..They're looking f..for you" She looked so mild in the silver light. "Hanabi t..told me, e..everything." She bit her lip with a look of determination and tightened her grip on the blades of grass beneath her. "I want you to stay!" she blushed but carried on looking me straight in the eyes, "Y..you can't go back to her! it's better here wh..where we can look after you." I felt my face growing hot.

"I.." I started.

Hinata shook her head furiously. "It takes a long time Tenten! Change. I..it takes a really long time. She can't change for you, not now m..maybe not ever. You're not safe with her. Sh..she hurts you!"

She was right. She was beautiful in her unexpected protective streak and she was right. I felt a tear slip out of my eye, but dashed it away quickly. If I was going to stay, I would have to regrow my backbone.

"Thank you, Hinata." I covered one of her hands with mine and smiled at her. "I think... I think you're right." Suddenly, I was being tackled to the ground in what I think was the first time Hinata ever hugged me. I laughed with surprise, except my laugh was more like a grunt as all the wind had been knocked out of me. When she sat back up again, Hinata was once more the picture of serenity and shyness that I had grown used to over the years and she smiled at me bashfully.

"I..I'm glad" she whispered, and stood up to leave.

I sat for a few moments but then decided to find Hanabi and Neji who were probably still looking for me.

Neji was still looking for me when I found him outside the front gates. Hanabi wasn't.

"She went to find Hiashi" Neji explained. Out of the bright moonlight, the dark house seemed a little scary to me still. Anticipating me, Neji took my hand silently and led me in through the front doors. Thankfully non of the lights were faulty between the front hall and Neji's room, but I let him hold my hand anyway. We sat on top of the covers on his bed facing each other, me leaning against the foot of the bed, him leaning against the headboard.

"Sorry" I blurted, cutting into the silence.

"What for?"

"I didn't mean to storm out, I was just so... so.." I through my hands up, "Angry." I suddenly felt embarrassed.

Neji reacted in a way that I wouldn't have expected in a million years. He laughed.

"Good" he said smiling slightly at me "I've been waiting." I blushed even more and realised for the first time in a month, I felt -just a bit- like a normal teenager.

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